Why do the good suffer? A meditation suggested by the book

Class

Book.

4]i

"K

CofpglitN"

CQRiRIGIfr DEPOSIT.

WHY DO THEGOOD SUFFER?A MEDITATION SUGGESTED BY

THE BOOK OF JOB

BY

VINCENT RAVI-BOOTH, M.A., D.D.Minister of the First Congregational Church of

Old Bennington, Vermont

ARTIetViERnxri;

BOSTONRICHARD G. BADGER

THE GORHAM PRESS

Copyright, 1920, by Vincent Ravi-Booth

All Rights Reserved

vv^

"^"^v

Made in the United States of America

The Gorham Press, Boston, U. S. A.

££C 23 IS2D

These pages are dedicated to the memory of a

lovely little girl, sixteen years of age when she went

hence, stricken with a terrible and mysterious

disease, the only case, save one, in the medical

annals of the state of Massachusetts.

''For the thing which I feat cometh upon me,

And that which I am afraid of cometh unto me.

I am not at ease, neither am I quiet, neither have

1 rest;

But trouble cometh/^ Job ^ '25-26.

^'For he hreaketh me with a tempest,

And multiplieth my wounds without cause.

He will not suffer me to take my breath.

But filleth me with bitternessJ' Job g:i7, 18,

WHY DO THE GOOD SUFFER?

WHY DO THE GOOD SUFFER?

The maladjustment between character and cir-

cumstance did not escape the early religious

teachers of Israel. Repeatedly throughout the

Old Testament, but especially in the book of

Psalms, the question is raised, "Why do the good

suffer?" and mighty efforts are put forth to

answer it.^

However, the book of Job is the most elab-

orate attempt in the Scriptures to find the final

answer to this question.

The book consists of forty-two chapters. Very

few people take the trouble to read them through.

Let us frankly admit that they are tedious for the

most part. There is endless repetition, and in-

conclusive argument, but out of the mass of

words and strange twists of oriental reasoning

*Prov. 23:17-18; Ps. 37:1-2; Ps. 73:3-5; Ps. 73:17-18.

9

lO Why Do the Good Suffer?

the earnest student may rescue many priceless

gems of satisfying truth.

Why do the good suffer?

(i) They suffer, replies the unknown author

of this sacred drama, in order that their honesty,

sincerity, disinterestedness may be established be-

yond question.

In the prologue Satan is represented as coming

into the presence of Jehovah ^'from going to and

fro in the earth, and from walking up and down

in it." 2

And Jehovah inquires of Satan if he has taken

notice of the integrity of his servant Job, *'one

that feareth God, and turneth away from evil."

Satan replies that he has; but then, with a

sneer, asks a question overflowing with vile in-

sinuation:

"Doth Job fear God for nought?" ^

The unmistakable inference is that he serves

God because it pays. With the Almighty as a

silent partner. Job has succeeded in accumulating

a vast fortune, in estabhshing a great family, in

'Job 1:7.

'Job 1:9.

Why Do the Good Suffer? ii

entrenching himself in power. Who would not

serve Jehovah to get all this? But let the Lord

strip Job of all he has, let him leave his ob-

sequious servant a broken and despised creature,

and then it will become evident why Job renders

lip praise to his God in the days of his prosperity.

God knows that Satan is merely expressing his

Satanic personality in these dark insinuations.

But the heavenly court, and mortal man, and the

black creatures who dwell in darkness, lacking

omniscience, do not know how deep the roots of

righteousness have penetrated the being of Job.

Job himself is not aware of the strength of his

will and purpose, nor does he suspect how inex-

haustible and how tender are the consolations of

God. Therefore Jehovah permits Satan to work

his will on the Hebrew patriarch. And when this

man, who has always feared God and turned

away from evil, disfigured and tormented by

disease, is abandoned on an ash heap outside the

city wall, Jehovah's confidence in him is vindi-

cated. Far from heeding his wife's advice,

"Dost thou still hold fast thine integrity? curse

God and die," *

*Job 2:9.

12 Why Do the Good Suffer?

we hear him, amidst his sobs, restating the funda-

mentals of his faith:

*What, shall we receive good at the hands of

God, and shall we not receive evil?" ^

''Naked came I out of my mother's womb, and

naked shall I return thither: the Lord gave, and

the Lord hath taken away; blessed be the name

of the Lord 1" 6

"Though he slay me, yet will I trust him I""^

Yes, there Is such a thing as disinterested good-

ness; there are folks,—not many, but still a con-

siderable number,—who will serve God even If It

does not pay!

(2) Why do the good suffer?

In order that the sediment of sin in their souls

may be consumed as with fire, answers the book

of Job.8

It is one thing to be good. It is another to be

perfect. Even In good men there Is a deposit of

evil,—a little pride, or arrogance, or vanity, or

"Job 2:10.

"Job 1:21.

'Job 13:15.

^Job 5:17-18; 10:4-7; 11:13-14; 13:23; 22:4; 23:10; 23:1-28;33:23-28; 34:15-16.

Why Do the Good Suffer? 13

selfishness; a little jealousy, or avarice, or cruelty,

or passionate desire. Therefore we hear the

Psalmist pray:

'Who can discern his errors?

Cleanse thou me from secret faults.

Keep back thy servant also from presumptuous

sins

;

Let them not have dominion over me

:

Then shall I be upright,

And I shall be clear from great trangression.'' ^

Good men are keenly conscious of their short-

comings. They are aware of the glorious good-

ness of God, hence their defects of character take

on hideous proportions by comparison with the

divine effulgence. Listen to Isaiah as he humbles

himself in the presence of the Lord seated upon a

throne, high and lifted up

:

"Woe is me! for I am undone; because I am a

man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of

a people of unclean lips : for mine eyes have seen

the King, Jehovah of hosts." ^^

Listen to Paul,

'Ps. 19:12-13.

"Isa. 6:5.


''O wretched man that I am I who shall deliver

me out of the body of this death?" ^^

And this sediment of sin deflects the arrow of

the good man's purpose from the ideal goal even

as the iron in a ship deflects the needle in the com-

pass, compelling the mariner to make corrections

in his calculations.

Now, in order that the good man may pass

from goodness to perfection, God leads him

through the hot fires of adversity, that the purify-

ing flame may destroy the last remnant of sin,

leaving behind the pure gold of character to shine

on for ever.

(3) Why do the good suffer?

In order that the moral law may be exalted and

firmly established in the reckoning of man, is the

third answer of the book of Job.^^

If one grants that there is a sediment of sin

in the good, it follows that even good men at-

tempt to violate the laws of God. This is a pretty

good definition of sin, the attempt to violate the

moral law. We carelessly say that sin is the

violation of the moral law. But no one has ever

"Rom. 7:24.

"Job 4:8-10; 6:4; 9:1-4; 22:21-30.


successfully violated any of God's laws, whether

natural or spiritual. The Titanic attempted to

steam through a field of ice, and straightway went

to the bottom with its priceless cargo. The sin-

ner attempts to ignore the Divine Will, and

straightway comes to grief.

"Be not deceived; God Is not mocked: for

whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also

reap/' ^^

And God can not ignore the sin of the good

man, any more than He can ignore the sin of the

sinner, without stultifying Himself. Natural and

spiritual law is sacred because it Is the expression

of the Creator's character. Therefore the good

man, even as the bad man, damages himself in

proportion to the impetus with which he collides

with the Divine Nature. A good father punishes

his boy when disobedient, not because he considers

him depraved (the father would be the first one

to resent the imputation) but that the child mayfrom the very beginning realize that the moral

law is Inexorable and supreme.

Here and there in the book of Job there are

"Gal. 6:7.

1

6

Why Do the Good Suffer?

hints to the effect that when the good man sins

he should be punished even more severely than

the wicked; for having made professions of

allegiance to the Divine Will, through his fault

the moral law is brought Into contempt.

"He is chastened also with pain upon his bed,

And with continual strife in his bones;

So that his life abhorreth bread,

And his soul dainty food." ^*

These then are the three reasons advanced by

the author of the book of Job In explanation of

the suffering of the good. They suffer in order

that their honesty, sincerity, disinterestedness

may be established beyond question; they suffer

that they may pass from goodness to perfection;

they suffer in order that the inviolability and

sacredness of the divine law, which is the expres-

sion of the Divine Nature, may be made manifest.

"Job 33:20.

II

And yet the argument is incomplete. When

the last word of the book of Job is reached the

aching void in the inquirer's heart is not filled.

We must look elsewhere for a truer answer, we

must search deeper.


Because man is finite in knowledge, hence he

learns through experience. We are moving out

of darkness into light, paying as we go. And

the price has been, and is, frightful

!

If the reader of these pages should turn to Sir

Hugh Clifford's fascinating book, *'The Further

Side of Silence," ^ he would gain a tolerably fair

idea of the progress achieved by the race to which

he belongs. Who can estimate the distance

separating us from the naked brown men of the

Malay Peninsula, dwelling in the forest, swinging

from branch to branch like their first cousins, the

'"The Further Side of Silence," by Sir Hugh Clifford, Double-day, Page & Co., 1917.

17

1

8

Why Do the Good Suffer?

apes, sleeping in the ashes of their camp fires,

the pitiful victims of superstitious fears awakened

by the moaning of the wind and the howling of

the man-eating tiger I

There was a time, hundreds of thousands of

years in the dim past, when the human beings

from whom we have sprung resembled these tree

dwellers. And the reason we are not swinging

like them from branch to branch, but are living

a complex civilized life in which the school, the

hospital, the library, the printing press, steam and

electricity, not to mention the church, loom so

large, is that countless generations preceding us

have explored the mysterious and thorny path of

life, leaving behind for our guidance priceless ex-

periences recorded in crimson characters.

At inestimable cost man has become acquainted

with the laws which safeguard life when obeyed,

and destroy it when discarded. There was a

time when man in the presence of disease was as

helpless as a three-hour babe confronted by a

raging bull. He knew nothing of bacteria. Infec-

tion, contagion. He saw his child well to-day and

dead to-morrow. No wonder that he succumbed

to the fear of evil spirits populating the forest,


or even animating beasts, reptiles and stones I If

only he had possessed the modern piercing eye,

which we call the microscope, he would have dis-

covered the existence of an invisible microcosm

full of devils to which we give the names of

germs, bacteria, and microbes!

No longer in a civilized community do we fear

cholera, bubonic plague, diphtheria, typhoid and

yellow fever. Even tuberculosis can be con-

quered, if taken in time. Thus one of the great

causes of human suffering, disease and premature

death, is being eliminated. The discovery of

ether as an anaesthetic, of bacteria, of antisepsis

and asepsis, of X-ray, have made modern surgery

possible. And modern surgery Is robbing the

grave of many of its intended victims.

We learn through experience. Being finite in

everything, we can not know the end from the

beginning. We must take one step at a time.

And frequently we step in the wrong direction.

Some good men are very foolish. In moments

of carelessness they do things which end in dis-

aster.

Here Is a devoted father, very much absorbed

in the problems of his profession. His mind is


far away as he slams the door of his automobile,

and incidentally cuts off two fingers from his little

daughter's hand. A year passes. Once more in

an absent-minded spell this affectionate father

slams the door of his automobile. This time three

fingers come off the baby's hand. Will any one

venture to suggest that somehow the Father in

heaven should have forestalled the action of the

good but careless parent on earth?

Here is a very good man driving his automo-

bile. He becomes aware that his gasolene is

almost spent. He stops at the nearest garage to

secure a fresh supply. It is night, therefore he

can not see how nearly full his tank is. Instead

of feeling with his fingers, he strikes a match,

holds it over the mouth of the tank, and peers in.

There is a violent explosion. Both the automo-

bile and the holder of the match are blown across

the road; and, worse yet, the innocent garage

proprietor is enveloped in a sheet of flame.

What else could happen? When a match is

held over the fumes of gasolene it must explode,

or it ceases to be gasolene. The character and

record of the holder of the match can not be

taken into consideration. Should the Creator

Why Do the Good Suferf 21

make exceptions in favor of good men who for

the moment, in Dante's words, have lost.

". . . il ben deirintelletto''

the boon of reason, His universe would collapse

in confusion.

These are some of the foolish things which

good men do in moments of mental aberration,

to their sorrow and regret.

But then good men are led into error under

the most perplexing and baffling circumstances.

If only they .could see the end from the beginning,

how differently would they plan and act

!

They have taken counsel of their wisest friends

before embarking on a momentous undertaking,

they have lifted their plans upon the wings of

prayer to the Throne of Grace, only to find when

irrevocably committed to the enterprise that they

are moving in a blind alley, yes, that they are

confronted by a stone wall. And then in humilia-

tion these good people have no choice but to

retrace their steps, and start afresh oppressed by

the consciousness of failure.

And it is seldom that one may use to advantage

the experience acquired at frightful cost, simply


because the identical combination of circumstances

never returns. At this point we are face to face

with one of the chief arguments for immortality.

Surely sometime, somewhere, the good Heavenly

Father will give us an opportunity to invest in a

glorious enterprise, which shall know no failure,

the experience for which we have paid with

bloody sweat and with groanings that can not be

uttered I

Ill

But we must search deeper for the most satis-

fying answer to the question, Why do the good

suffer?

Not in the book of Job, but in the writings of

the Great Unknown prophet of the Babylonian

exile; or, better still, in the sayings of Jesus of

Nazareth,' is found the clearest answer to this

momentous question. Since the book of Job was

written searchers after God have discovered that

life is vicarious.

Vicarious means to change places, to act or

suffer for another, to endure the consequences of

an action or situation for which the victim is not

responsible.

And life is vicarious, both negatively and posi-

tively.

Negatively, since multitudes are the unwilling

and protesting victims of the sins and blunders of

others. With them it is not a matter of choice,

—

they simply can not help themselves, for they

23


stand directly across the path of the wicked or of

fools as they sweep on to destruction. Illustra-

tions abound.

Here is a little child suffering from a frightful

nervous disorder : here is another threatened with

blindness: here is a boy, dull and stupid, who

looks out upon the world with the vacant stare

of the cow in the fields. Why all this misery?

Surely these little ones have not sinned so griev-

ously as to deserve such punishment

!

The answer is not far to seek. They are suffer-

ing vicariously. Their fathers, or grandfathers,

or great-grandfathers before them have been

great sinners, setting at nought the command-

ments of God. The terrible law of heredity

which, like an angel with flaming sword, stands

watch over the human race, stamping out what-

ever makes for degeneracy and death, and en-

couraging whatever makes for strength and life,

—is clearly set forth in one of the ten words of

Moses:

"Visiting the iniquities of the fathers upon the

children, unto the third and fourth generation of

them that hate Me; and showing mercy unto


thousands of them that love Me and keep Mycommandments.'' ^

Here Is a middle-aged woman in a humble

home. She must rise before the break of day to

attend to her children's needs. After doing a

fair day's work, she must go out to earn her liv-

ing sweeping, washing, scrubbing. But two frail

hands can not earn enough to pay for the food,

clothing, and shelter of a large family. Hence

the oldest daughter must come out of the high

school and go into the mill. Even then the com-

bined efforts of mother and daughter are barely

sufficient to secure the necessities, not to mention

the luxuries which are part of the comfort and

satisfaction of a cosy home.

Why so much misery? Because the head of the

family is dissipated. He has cultivated the taste

for strong drink until now he is no longer the

master of his soul. Much of the time he lies In

a drunken stupor, and it is an open question

whether he is not less trouble when Intoxicated

than when sober, clamoring for more drink.

Thus the Innocent suffer vicariously.

'Exodus 20:5-6.


This negative aspect of the vicariousness of life

Is summed up in the words of Paul when he writes

to the Romans:

*'For none of us liveth to himself, and none

dieth to himself." ^

Which means that our spirit and conduct affect

for weal or for woe other lives. And this realiza-

tion that our destinies are inextricably inter-

twined, so that we stand or fall together, should

hold us with an iron grip in the path of duty and

of honor, lest by reason of our sin or folly we

should add to the mass of human wreckage

strewn along the shores of time.

The world war has multiplied by the million

the ranks of the vicarious but protesting sufferers

of the world. Did the people of Belgium or

Northern France, who were swept by the field-

gray legions pouring out of Germany, even as

falling leaves are blown by autumnal winds,

—

did they have anything to say as to whether there

should or should not be a great war within their

borders ? And so with all ^the wretched nations

in Europe or in Asia whose lands have trembled

'Rom. 14:7.

Why Do the Good Suffer? .27

to the tramp of marching millions, to the thunder

of artillery, to the crash of engines of war! Oh,

the innocent victims of the last six years ! Whocan number them as their bones lie rotting in the

shallow graves of half a thousand battlefields, or

strewn across the sands of the Syrian desert, or

forgotten at the bottom of the restless sea

!

So much for vicariousness in its negative as-

pects.

How glorious life may become is not apparent

until we consider vicariousness on its positive side.

We have seen that some people suffer under

protest: they are overtaken by the wicked or

fools as they move on to destruction, even as the

fisherman on the rocks sometimes is overtaken

by the swiftly rising tide.

But then on the other hand, there is that vast

multitude, which no man can number, who have

offered themselves a living sacrifice in the hope

that, through their labor of love, the innocent

may be shielded, and the lost may be found and

saved.

Let the reader picture a mother and her daugh-

ter, both utterly broken in health, and one of

them prematurely brought to the brink of the

28 Why Do the Good Sufferf

grave. What has reduced them to this pitiable

condition? Anxiety for an only son and brother

whom they have loved with a consuming love.

When he was a babe his little sister voluntarily

would sit by his crib hour after hour quietly rock-

ing her doll, uttering not a sound, lest she should

disturb the slumber of her angel brother. Andas the years pass this sister's affection, far from

cooling, grows greater, and deeper, and more

sacrificial.

At last the time comes for this baby boy grown

to be a youth, to enter college. There he forms

the wrong kind of friendships, gradually he

acquires the taste for strong drink, until liquor

becomes his relentless master, driving him to per-

dition. Morning after morning he staggers home

shamefully drunk, only to find his mother sitting

in an arm chair by the window. And when the

fumes and fury of the demon of drink have

given way to reason and penitence, the remorse-

ful son pleads with his mother not to wear herself

out on his account,—never again to sit up waiting

for him to come home. And the broken-hearted

mother replies with never-failing patience : "Myson, some one must go to the wall on your ac-


count,—why not I? If by sitting up until day-

break I can bring you home fifteen minutes sooner

than you would return otherwise, I shall sit up all

night every night that you are out of the house I"

Which reminds us of the prophet's cry:

"How shall I give thee up, Ephraim?

How shall I cast thee off, Israel?" ^

And then from time to time there arises some

great man who deliberately plunges into a sea of

trouble, utterly careless of consequences to him-

self if through his burning words and ceaseless

effort he may defend a righteous cause, a priceless

principle, a sovereign ideal.

Thus all the prophets of Israel suffered vicari-

ously. Did Isaiah deserve to be sawn asunder

like a log? Did Jeremiah deserve to be cast Into

a filthy dungeon, and later did he deserve to be

dragged into Egypt, there to perish miserably?

It is only necessary to state the question to knowhow it should be answered. Both men perished

because the consuming passion of their souls wasto redeem Israel I What did It matter to Moses,

Joshua, Samuel, Elijah, Amos, Hosea, Micah,

'Hosea 11:8.


whether they lived or whether they died, so long

as through their Ufe and death the people of God

were assisted to pass from death unto life I

But the Prince of all vicarious sufferers is Jesus

of Nazareth.

"He saved others, Himself He can not save!" ^

These words were spoken in derision by the

chief priests and senseless onlookers surging

around the cross. But even though they were

intended to express cutting irony, never has a

truer saying passed the lips of mortal man.

Jesus hung from the cross for the simple rea-

son that the overmastering passion of His mind

and heart was to save. This passion drove Himout of the seclusion and safety of His mountain

home into the world of strife and hatred. The

text of His first sermon, preached in the syna-

gogue of Nazareth at the beginning of His career

sounded the key-note of His ministry.

"The Spirit of the Lord is upon me.

Because he anointed me to preach good tidings to

the poor;

*Mark 15:31.


He has sent me to proclaim release to the cap-

tives,

And recovering of sight to the blind,

To set at liberty them that are bruised,

To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord." ^

The poor, the captives, the blind, the bruised,

—

these are to be the special objects of His care!

Repeatedly we hear Him defending His practice

of associating with publicans and sinners.

''They that are whole have no need of a phy-

sician, but they that are sick . . . for I came not

to call the righteous but sinners to repentance." ®

And thus we see Him going up and down the

highways and byways of Palestine crying out to

all who have ears to hear

:

''Come unto me all ye that labour and are

heavy laden, and I will give you rest!"'^

But how is Jesus going to save unless Hespeaks the truth? Men are saved through the

truth.

"Luke 4:18-19.

'Luke 5:31.

'Matt. 11:28.


'Te shall know the truth, and the truth shall

make you free." ^

Jesus must speak the truth about God. Who

is God?

"God is like us," reply the blind leaders of the

blind ; a super-scribe, a Pharisee raised to the nth

power. He is seated on a throne above the

heavens, and mortal man can do nothing with

Him except through priest and sacrifice. He

thinks so much of the sacred law that He spends

six hours out of every twenty-four meditating

upon it. He keeps a sharp lookout to make sure

that His people do not overlook any of the minute

requirements of the Talmud. Such is God

!

"Not so!" says Jesus. God is the infinite,

heavenly Father, whose moral nature is expressed

in perfect holiness and perfect love. Holy love

can not fail to discharge its sacred obligations.

Therefore God is in honor bound to meet the

need of those whom He has created in His own

image. The attitude of the father in the parable

of the prodigal son, of the shepherd in the par-

able of the lost sheep, of the housewife in the

'John 8:32.


parable of the lost coin, reveals the heart of the

Eternal as He looks down in compassion upon

weak, erring, sinful humanity. He is touched

with the feeling of our infirmities. Therefore,

even as an earthly parent gives bread to his

hungry children, so God is ready to impart Him-

self and every perfect gift to whomsoever calls

upon His Holy Name.^

How can Jesus save unless He speaks the truth

about man? Who is man?

*'Man is a worm !" reply the Scribes and Phari-

sees with mock humility.

"Not so!" says Jesus. Man is the child of

God, made in the image of the Father, immeas-

urably exalted abqve every other creature

through the gift of mind and conscience. Hecomes from God, and he is going to God. Even

in the publicans and sinners, buried under the

filth of sin, is the divine spark which may be blown

into a flame of consuming righteousness when

played upon by the Holy Spirit. The lost coin

has not lost its value. The image and superscrip-

tion of the King are stamped upon it. If found

it can be restored to circulation. God's purpose

'Luke II :i2.


is to find that which is lost. Therefore His Spirit

moves over the vast chaos of sin, reclaiming, re-

freshing, redeeming, restoring.

How can Jesus save unless He tells the truth

about religion? What is religion?

"Religion," reply the Scribes and Pharisees,

"consists in the faithful observance of the sacred

law; it consists of feasts, fasts, sacrifices and pil-

grimages; it finds its deepest satisfaction in

ceremonial purity, in the keeping of the Sabbath,

in the repetition of long prayers, preferably in

public places, in the wearing of philacteries, and

in exploring the mysteries of mint, and anise, and

cummin."

"Not so !" says Jesus. Religion is the realiza-

tion of the presence of God in the believer's soul,

and the consistent effort to organize one's life in

harmony with the divine Will.^^ Pure and unde-

filed religion is concerned not with tradition and

precedent, but with principles. Truth, justice,

mercy,—service, sacrifice, faith,—loyalty, hope,

courage,—^^these are some of the foundation

stones upon which rests the life that is hid with

Christ in God.

"Matt. 7:31.

Why Do the Good Stifferf 35

How is Jesus going to save unless He tells the

truth concerning the fate of the soul?

"If a man die, shall he live again?"

"Yes," reply the Pharisees, "in the nether

world,—^that dark, shadowy place, where man

forever mourns the earthly life left behind."

"Nothing of the sort," reply the Sadducees,

poking fun at the very idea by inventing a hypo-

thetical case in which the same woman marries

seven brothers in succession as fast as the pre-

ceding one is dead and buried,—only to ask with

a sneer, "And now in the resurrection, whose

wife shall she be?"

"Yes," calmly and confidently asserts the Lord

Jesus. "Have ye not read that which was spoken

unto you by God, saying: 'I am the God of

Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of

Jacob?' God is not the God of the dead, but of

the living!" ^^ Abraham has quitted this life

centuries ago, and yet God speaks of him as if he

were living, for the simple reason that Abraham,

and all who have passed out of the temporal

order are living somewhere in the Father's house.

If those who leave us are extinguished as a candle

**Mark 12:26-27.


by the wind, then God presides over a vast ceme-

tery filled with the bones and broken hopes of

countless generations. Which is unthinkable I

Therefore, "in my Father's house are many man-

sions," enough to hold the vast throngs pouring

out of time into eternity. If it were not so, the

truth loving, the gentlemanly Jesus would have

told us I12

PS:.: -

. _God of the living, in whose eyes

Unveiled Thy whole creation lies.

All souls are thine : we must not say

That those are dead who pass away;

From this our world of flesh set free.

We know them living unto Thee.

Released from earthly toil and strife,

With Thee is hidden still their life;

Thine are their thoughts, their works, their

powers.

All Thine, and yet most truly ours;

For well we know, where'er they be,

Our dead are living unto Thee.

Not spilt like water on the ground,

Not wrapped in dreamless sleep profound,

"John 14:3-3.


Not wandering In unknown despair

Beyond Thy voice, Thine arm, Thy care;

Not left to lie like fallen tree:

Not dead, but living unto Thee.

Thy word is true. Thy will is just;

To Thee we leave them. Lord, in trust;

And bless Thee for the love which gave

Thy Son to fill a human grave.

That none might fear that world to see,

Where all are living unto Thee.^^

In this quiet manner the Prophet of Nazareth

went about speaking the truth by which men were

to pass, as through a door, into the presence of

their Heavenly Father. And there could be but

one ending to this glorious mission, for there is

something in the truth which stirs the very Devil

in the hearts of men.

As the regularly accredited religious teachers

of Israel witnessed the marvelous power wielded

by the Carpenter upon the common people; as

they heard them remark with feeling: "Hespeaks with authority and not as the Scribes"; ^^

"J. Ellerton, 1871.

"Matt. 7:29.

38 JVhy Do the Good Suffer?

as they saw His gospel slowly undermining

their ancient institutions, (the temple, the

priesthood, the sacrifice,—covered as they were

with the moss of tradition, and the poison-ivy

of superstition) , institutions which they, in their

blindness, conceived as perfect and final, they

were filled with rage. Their religious fanaticism

was kindled to white heat. In the name of the

God of their fathers, and for His greater glory,

the voice of this unauthorized itinerant preacher

must be silenced in death

!

"Then were gathered together the chief

priests, and the elders of the people, unto the

court of the high priest, who was called Caiaphas;

and they took counsel together that they might

take Jesus by subtlety and kill him." ^^

There could be but one ending to the Master's

mission. Jesus did not deceive Himself into sup-

posing that He would escape the lot of the

prophets who had preceded Him. Therefore it

was not long after the opening of His public min-

istry before He began to tell His friends that if

they would be His disciples they must take up

"Matt. 26:3-4.

Why Do the Good Sufferf 39

their crosses daily and follow him.^^ For who-

soever starts out to save his life inevitably loses

it, and whosoever deliberately throws away his

life in the interest of a glorious cause ends by

finding it. And certainly, it will profit a man

nothing if he should gain the whole world and

lose his own soul ; and what can a man get out of

the material order that can ever take the place of

a life glowing with the power and love of God.^"^

The harvest comes because the seed in the ground

is reabsorbed in the bosom of mother nature. So,

unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and

die it abideth alone. ^^

It was not long before Jesus found occasion

to rebuke Peter for suggesting a policy of safety

first.^^ The Son of Man sets His face stead-

fastly toward Jerusalem, knowing full well what

awaits him there. ^^ Jerusalem for Jesus stands

for fearless proclamation of God's character and

program, for strife, misrepresentation, insult,

false accusation, arrest, mock trial, condemnation,

"Luke 9:23.

"Matt. 16:24-26.

''John 12:24.

"Mark 8:33.^"Luke 9:51.


torture, ridicule,—^^the cross on Calvary. But

what does it matter to Him, the Chief among ten

thousand!

''And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will

draw all men unto myself." ^^

Never in the tragic history of this old world of

ours were the ranks of the willing, eager, vicari-

ous sufferers augmented by such vast numbers as

during the years of the world war. Literally mil-

lions of men and women, from the highest to the

lowest, took the stand that it did not matter what

might happen to them,—they might be torpedoed

on the high seas and drowned like rats, they might

be blown to bits by high explosives, they might be

mutilated, or blinded, they might rot in the

trenches and dug-outs of Flanders, they might

perish from heat, or cold, or hunger, or thirst,

—

it did not matter what happened to them, so long

as the spiritual heritage, and priceless rights of

mankind were, through their sacrifices, preserved

and vindicated for all time.

On a gloomy afternoon in January, 191 8, the

**John 12:3 a.

Why Do the Good Suffer? ^i

very day after Paris had passed through a mur-

derous aeroplane raid in which scores of innocent

folk had been killed or maimed, the writer hap-

pened to stroll into the vestibule of the Sorbonne.

The walls of that great hall are covered with

thousands of cards, each card four inches square,

each card recording the deeds of some professor,

or instructor, or graduate, or student of that great

college who has perished on the battlefields of

Europe that France may live.

*'They saved others, themselves they could not

save."

It is said that Oxford alone has lost during the

world war, twenty thousand men who at some

time or other have been identified with the col-

leges of that centre of learning. And much the

same proportion holds good for all other British

universities.

"They saved others, themselves they could not

saven

During the terrific fighting of 191 6 around

Verdun a French oflicer spied an old woman wan-

dering aimlessly In No Man's Land. A corporal's


guard was sent out to arrest her. The petty

officer demanded to know why she was breaking

the stringent regulation against civilians ventur-

ing into the fighting zone. The old woman ex-

plained that at the beginning of the war she had

seven sons, that six of them had fallen in battle

at various times, and that she had just received

word that her seventh and youngest had been

killed at Verdun. She had come in the vain hope

of locating his grave.

Instantly the corporal commanded his men to

present arms. And the peasant woman, waving

her right hand over her head, cried out

:

^'Vivela France!''

Now we understand why it is that the best

suffer most. It is because they are more alive to

the Issues of life, because they are more respon-

sive to the summons of duty, and to the appeal

of honor. With them, Noblesse Oblige. They

are spiritually akin to the disciples of old, who

having been cast into dark dungeons, beaten with

many rods, and threatened with dire conse-

quences should they ever dare to proclaim again

the name of Jesus, went home ^'rejoicing that they


had been counted worthy to suffer dishonor for

that Name.22


In order that their honesty, sincerity, disinter-

estedness may be established beyond question;

they suffer that they may pass from goodness to

perfection; they suffer that the moral law may be

exalted; they suffer since man is moving from

ignorance and foolishness into knowledge and

wisdom, paying as he goes; they suffer because

life is vicarious both negatively and positively.

For all these reasons good men suffer.

"Acts 5:41.

IV

But does this analysis exhaust the subject? Is

the question answered in full? Do not things

happen for which there is no explanation? Does

not the time come when he who, like Job's com-

forters, attempts to explain why calamity after

calamity overtakes the innocent, runs the risk of

insulting the intelligence and outraging the con-

science of him who sits on the ash heap of his

hopes?

Eliphaz the Temanite, and Bildad the Shuhite,

and Zophar the Naamite came to comfort Job in

his unutterable grief. And when they lifted up

their eyes afar off, and knew him not, they raised

their voices in lamentation,' and wept. "And they

rent every one his robe, and sprinkled dust upon

their heads toward heaven. So they sat down

with him upon the ground seven days and seven

nights, and none spake a word unto him ; for they

saw that his grief was very great." ^

*Job 3:12-13.

44


So long as these three men remained silent

their consolations were effective. What a pity

that they ever opened their mouths to speak!

Things happen which seem to proclaim that the

universe is ruled by malignant spirits.

In the city of Florence, hard by the Santa

Trinita bridge, resting on a massive base, rises a

great granite column, surmounted by an heroic

and gilded statue of Justice, holding a sword in

its right hand, and a pair of scales in its left.

The statue is nearly fifty feet from the pavement.

About the middle of the last century a proud

and wealthy lady lived in an apartment nearly

opposite this monument. She was the envied

possessor of a priceless collection of jewels, and

her dearest ornament was a string of faultless

pearls.

One morning the great lady was sitting by her

dressing table, and her maid was by her side

assisting. her to dress. The glittering jewels were

scattered on the table, which stood by an open

window through which poured a flood of sun-

shine. Her toilet completed, the lady went out

for her morning ride, leaving her maid, whom she

implicitly trusted, to lock up the precious gems.


That evening the proud matron called for her

string of pearls. She was going to a great social

function, and she proposed to shine among her

peers. But the necklace was missing. Every

nook and corner of the apartment was searched in

vain. The stones were nowhere to be found.

Of course the police was called in. Of course

the maid-in-waiting was accused of the theft. Noother human being had been there from the time

the lady had gone for her morning ride until her

return, and the pearls were lying on the dressing

table when she left the room. Who else could

have taken them? Circumstantial evidence made

all this quite clear.

Of course the maid passionately protested her

innocence, and of course she was arrested, tried,

convicted, sentenced to a term of years at hard

labor; and, when finally released, thrown out on

the street to eke out a miserable existence,

despised and disgraced.

Years came and went. Florence continued to

live its usual life of joy and sorrow, happiness

and misery. At last the municipality decided that

it was time to regild the heroic statue of Justice

towering above the ancient city by the Arno. The


scaffolding was erected, the workmen climbed to

its summit, and began to remove the dust and

filth of a hundred years.

And what did they find? In one of the deep

plates of the scales held aloft by the symbol of

Justice, were the remains of a large bird's nest,

and hidden among the debris rested the stolen

string of pearls. But the innocent and falsely

accused servant was dead of want and a broken

heart, and it was beyond the power of accuser,

police, judge, jury, and prosecuting attorney to

atone for their frightful blunder. How could

they know that certain birds are fascinated by

the glitter of jewels? and how could they guess

that one such bird had made off with the missing

string of pearls to use as a foundation for its

nest?

However, the heroic statue of Justice, with its

sword and its scales, was regilded, so that it

might impressively continue to proclaim the

legend that law and fair play rule among men.

But what would have been the thoughts of that

statue, should it have been miraculously endowed

with intelligence and conscience, as it kept on

looking down upon the great city with its throb-


bing and tragic life ! Is it not true that in the

name of justice, religion, morals, and every other

virtue known and practiced in Heaven, some

great wrongs have been, and still are daily, com-

mitted down here upon earth?

Things happen for which no explanation is

possible. The time comes in the lives of some

good men when they are face to face with the

infinite mystery of life.

Jesus reached that point. As He looked down

from the cross on the sneering Pharisees, and

heard the insulting jeers of the demented crowd

whom He had lived to serve and bless, the dark

impenetrable clouds of doubt closed down upon

His mind, and, out of the darkness He cried out

unto heaven, ''My God, my God, why hast thou

forsaken Me?"^

That cry is a solemn and heart-breaking indict-

ment of the providential order. What can be

said in favor of a universe which allows Jesus of

Nazareth to be crucified between two thieves!

What shall we do when we are face to face

with the infinite mystery of life?

Exactly what Jesus did. All His life, from the

^Mark 14:34.


days of His boyhood as He "Increased in wisdom

and in stature, and in favor with God and with

man/' ^ in the days of His youth, when Helaboured in the village carpenter's shop, remain-

ing obedient and subject to His earthly parents;*

all through the years of His manhood, whether

tempted in the wilderness or confronted by men's

needs, He walked by faith. ^ Hence it is not sur-

prising that the moment of despair on Golgotha

soon was over. The habit of a lifetime reas-

serted itself even during the agony and shame of

the cross. With His last breath we hear Himmurmur

:

"Father, into thy hands I commend mySpirit.** «

The book of Job closes with a mighty appeal

to walk by faith. When the heated, and imper-

fect arguments of the disputants are ended, and

the baffling question. Why do the good suffer? is

^Luke 2:52.

*Luke 2:51.

"Matt. 4:4.

"Luke 23:46.


only partially answered, the anonymous author of

the sacred drama ushers Jehovah upon the stage

to speak for Himself.

But does the Eternal argue? On the contrary,

He causeth the universe, as it were, to pass in

review before this broken man whose soul is so

full of protest and despair. The treasures of the

hills and fields, of the rivers and the sea ; the mar-

velous creatures which roam above and beneath

the earth; the wonders of the heavens,—sun,

moon, and stars,—the Pleiades, Orion, and the

Milky Way,—all these move majestically before

Job, proclaiming that everlasting goodness and

perfect harmony reign supreme at the heart of

the Eternal."^

It is at this point that the climax of the book

of Job is reached. The disfigured and distracted

leper is suddenly overwhelmed by the realization

that his Hfe is still in the Divine keeping. Lifting

his hands to the calm and serene heavens above

him, he utters the triumphant cry of faith

:

'*I had heard of Thee by the hearing of the ear;

But now mine eye seeth thee." ^

'Job 34:41.

*Job 42:5.


And so with us. When the black clouds of

grief close down upon us and we are face to face

with the infinite mystery of life, and our well-

meaning friends distract us by their vain chatter,

we will walk by faith in the Eternal Goodness.

Never shall we surrender our reason. We will

follow it as far as it can lead us, and as long as

it lasts. But when reason fails,—standing on its

uttermost edge, we shall take the long leap in the

dark, we shall stretch,

*'lame hands of faith,"

and grope for the hem of God's garment, we shall

ask the ancient question which admits of a single

answer:

"Shall not the Judge of all the earth do

right?" »

"Gen. 18:25.

Deacidified using the Bookkeeper process.

Neutralizing agent: Magnesium Oxide

Treatment Date: June 2005

PreservationTechnologiesA WORLD LEADER IN PAPER PRESERVATION

1 1 1 Thomson Park Drive

Cranberry Township. PA 16066

(724)779-2111

Documents

Why do the good suffer? A meditation suggested by the book